The Incredible (and Potentially Scary) World of Social Networks

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

After much prodding from my brother and friends, I decided to get with the times and join a social network. For me, the network of choice was Facebook. Instantly upon joining, I was connected to hundreds of people from my past. My old next door neighbor, middle school classmates that I have not seen or heard from in 25 years, friends from high school, teammates and fraternity brothers from college, and tons of family. It is an incredibly powerful tool and one that allows me to communicate in a centralized location with many people that I have wondered and thought about for years.

For parents, your children are probably social network obsessed. Whether it’s Facebook, MySpace, or TAKKLE (Baseball Factory’s social network partner for High School athletes) chances are that your son has a page created with at least one social network. It probably is one of their main sources of communication with their friends.

It is important for parents to know that college coaches have started to use these social networks as a way to check in on their current players and their targeted high school recruits. College coaches are really big on “make-up” and character. How a player spends his time off the field is a very good indicator for what type of person he will be on the field. As such, many college recruiters are combing these social networks to see what kids are like. What are they posting? Who are their friends? What are they talking or bragging about on their pages? How do they spend their time? What are their interests? Coaches can learn a lot from what they can find on-line. Employers are also frequently using these web sites to do reference checks on aspiring high school summer job candidates as well.

As a parent, make sure you are familiar with these social networks and speak to your children about how college coaches are “checking up” on players. Social networks are here to stay and they are quite powerful tools, but just make sure your son is using them responsibly!

Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

Jimmy Key, What’s He Like 45?

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

Remember that ESPN commercial? The one where ESPN drafted a sports anchor out of high school. The scouting reports were off the charts, but the kid just wasn’t emotionally ready. One of my favorites, and they’ve had some good ones, including the spelling bee, Ozzie Guillen call to the bullpen, and cannon fodder.

Anyway, back on topic…I started thinking about this commercial because I was noticing how many players drafted straight out of high school are off to a great start in 2008.

David Wright, 3B, New York Mets
.343, 12 runs, 4 homeruns, 19 RBI, 3 stolen bases, 1.165 OPS

Justin Upton, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
.384, 11 runs, 5 homeruns, 13 RBI, 1.091 OPS

B.J. Upton, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
.338, 14 runs, 2 homeruns, 16 RBI, 4 stolen bases

Nate McLouth, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
.375, 16 runs, 3 homeruns, 16 RBI, 2 stolen bases, 1.082 OPS

Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers
.305, 11 runs, 4 homeruns, 19 RBI, .923 OPS

All Baseball Factory/Team One alumni, by the way. There are many more young players lighting up the box scores and making a serious impact on their teams.

These players are all under 27 years old, but are quickly becoming the future of their respective ball clubs. At the same time, players like Mike Mussina (39 years old, 5.75 ERA and potentially out of the Yankees starting rotation), Frank Thomas (39 years old, released on Sunday by the Blue Jays) and Pedro Martinez (36 years old, on the DL with a 10.80 ERA) are taking a back seat as their careers wind down.

Keep an eye on the next batch of young stars drafted straight out of high school including Jay Bruce (21 years old), Cameron Maybin (21), Colby Rasmus (21) and Homer Bailey (21). You may see them this year in a starting lineup near you. In addition, check out the Sports Illustrated/TAKKLE Top 100 players, powered by Baseball Factory. Many of these top high school players will be first round selections in this year’s amateur draft.